Porcine Press – Hog Problems in New Mexico

The sad part of the recent glut of all these animals Phillip is the Knee Jerk reaction and the resulting extermination of them.

It still boggles my mind that they do not just simply hold “special hunts” where the public sector can go in and at least be able to claim the meat.
(good ol’ insurance reasons I guess)

With these exterminating practices going on I fear that public land hunting for the wild hog will diminish greatly.

Don’t mean to hog up space here Phillip but, I still believe that it would be cheaper for States to subsidize a growing outfit to put up a 4′ Hog Fence to be placed around their crops.
I have been able to successfully keep “In” my Eurasian Swine and the Feral swine population “out” with my fence.
The only place where I can’t keep the feral hogs out is where the existing and cheap, single weave fence (put up by the previous land owner) is, up in the front 300.

A properly installed 4 foot and double weave, high tensile strength game fence would keep those hogs out and would not stop the deer one single bit.
And you know that those farmers really don’t want to keep the deer out.

But just like here in Ca. where the state spent several hundred million dollars (just one example of many) on eradication when just simply putting up a good fence will work, and then the public can reap the benefits of the over population by public/private land hunting.

It just bothers me to no end that the meat is being wasted like that when people right here in the U.S.A. are going hungry.

I’d be interested in coming down to hunt with my son and am sure I could find others willing to do the same.Exterminating them seems extrordinary.Al

I am a bow hunter in Albuquerque just returning from a deer hunt in the Roswell area. Me and my buddy are interested in a feral pig hunt in that area. We were told by a local resident that these animals are out if hand in that area. If there are any land owners reading this blog interested in allowing people to hunt the pigs. Please let me know.
thank you,
Craig

Hey anybody out there here anything about open ferrel hog hunting in Nogal canyon ?

There are several Nogal canyons in NM. It is most likely the one by the town of Nogal off HWY 37 north of Ruidoso. I hear there is some good hunting down by the Pecos. I havent gone but I dont hear about too many people doing awesome but I have seen one in the Capitan Mountains. Ill be taking my dogs down there to look for some starting very soon though. If anyone gets into them, let me know, me and my dogs will go down and we’ll try to take care of a few and fill the freezer.

Ryan

Daniel,
Are you the Daniel that I met down in Mimbres last year with Isaac? My dogs havent been on hogs yet either but you can do it year round so its gotta be good training. Give me a call anytime 505-730-7943 or if you would rather me call you just let me know. Or you can email me at ryan.wood@ang.af.mil. I look forward to hearing from you.

Ryan

If its the same one from a few posts above I just called and left you a message. Otherwise no I dont think I do.

Ryan

Game and fish dont kno how hunt or trap these animals. When they capture and swine, they kill it in their traps and take blood samples, Other hogs can smell that and would not want to enter the trap… Their traps are not up to par and look like some high school kids built them. they dont check them enough and they leave trash around them. Its like they are trying to catch racoons. The best way to knock down the population is to understand the animal and take it out at its weakness. Have annual hog hunts that give the meat to charity that are held in hog populated areas.

Many studies on the environmental impacts of feral hogs have been done. To put in a nutshell, they’re destructive as all get out. Their gastric cycle is something like 3-5 hours and they eat anything, including endangered species. Building fences around all the crops that will keep the buggers out is a big task. Probably bigger than taxpayers would like to subsidize. They out compete native species by eating all of the food and do other nasty things, such as waiting behind a lambing ewe so that they can take the lamb as it comes out. They also spread invasive plants and weeds when they move from one area to the next. They’ll root up to 1 1/2 feet deep. A study done near Ft Benning estimated that in a 736km^2 area, the population of feral hogs would eat 2.85 million reptiles and amphibians per year.

In short, we brought them here, they don’t belong here and they screw things up. Consider that a sexually mature sow will give birth to 2-3 litters per year with an average of 5-6 piglets per litter. They can have double that amount. Commercial hunting and recreational hunting simply is not enough to control the population, which has tripled in the past 20-30 years. As much as I think that it would be fun to always have the things around to hunt, I would prefer to see them wiped out. The research shows that they should be. In the mean time, I’ll have to enjoy some wild pork thrown in my smoker.